


No more, please...

by NYWCgirl



Series: Taken [2]
Category: White Collar
Genre: Angst, Broken Bones, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Minor Injuries, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Rescue, Surgery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 04:42:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16486103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl
Summary: Neal is rescued, but does he know?





	No more, please...

**Author's Note:**

> This fic fills the ‘Hostile climate’ square on my H/C Bingo card. This fic is a sequel to ‘Broken and drugged.’

The world has slowed down, he is not even sure if he is still on this world. Everything feels wrong, even his own skin. He has memories of being cleaned, fed and made to drink water, but he is not sure if it is just wishful thinking or actual memories. He thinks he tried to escape, but it is hard to keep his mind focused, whenever he tries to remember something, it seems to slip away, just out of reach.

He feels so tired, exhausted and it is just too much effort to keep his eyes open.

He startles when he hears the door open. His captors probably want to check if he is still alive or drug him again into oblivion. He squeezes his eyes shut when he can feel them approaching.

‘No, please, no, I…, no, please.’

‘Shh… it´s OK.’

It isn´t, it really isn´t, but Neal is just too tired, he isn´t able to fight them off. They are with too many. He tried before, he really tried, but they always get him.

He can hear them talk to, but the words sound garbled and far away. When he feels hands on him, he whimpers and tries to curl away, but when he finds he can´t, he starts struggling. Fierce pain shoots up from his leg, but it also clears his thoughts a bit more and he knows he needs to fight them. He can´t give up. He can´t. Peter will come for him. He always does.

‘Stop it!’ a voice breaks through the fog in his mind.

Neal realizes he understand what they are saying, but he isn´t ready to make it easy on his captors. He really starts to struggle in earnest now.

‘Stop it! You are going to hurt yourself!’

‘Grab his legs. Hold him.’ Another voice shouts.

Neal keeps struggle even though he knows he will lose this battle as well. In the end they always win.

‘No please, no.’

When his broken leg is held down, the pain consumes him and he lets out an animalistic sound before the world around him whites out, he stills and they use the moment to lift and strap him to something. When he regains some of his faculties, he notices a plastic mask over his face and he tries to talk it off, only to find his hand tied to whatever he is placed on. He tries to dislodge it by moving his head from side to side, but it is held in place by someone.

‘Please, don´t.’

‘It´s OK, it is there to make you feel better.’

That is what they said about the drugs as well, but it only makes him feel worse.

‘No, please, please, stop.’ He whimpers.

‘Neal, you are safe, we got you, you are on your way to hospital.’

Neal knows they are trying to trick him. He starts struggling again and when he moves his leg, the world suddenly blacks out.

 

* * *

 

Peter watches how for the second time since they found him, Neal passes out. His leg is badly broken and it is clear he is doped up to the gills. His pupils are eerie large and there is almost no blue visible. It is clear to the team that Neal is not with them and they will have to be careful not to get hurt by Neal, who clearly still believes they are the bad guys.

When SWAT entered the house, it was clear that whoever took Neal, was long gone. It didn´t take them long to find Neal in one of the cellars. The place was filthy, damp and cold and Neal was huddled shivering in the corner. He was only wearing his under shirt and slacks. From the way he held his leg, it was clear that it was broken. Medical assistance were requested to come in, but Neal hadn´t reacted well to the presence of all these people.

Even trying to sound reassuring didn´t help and it was clear Neal was going to hurt himself and others if they didn´t contain him. He tried to get through to Neal, but it was clear that he wasn´t aware he was being saved and that he perceived their attempts as attempts to restrain him further.

The EMT’s had told everybody to just hold him while they readied the gurney. They didn´t want to sedate him since they didn´t know what drugs were already in his system. The fact that Neal was drugged was clear once Neal lost conscious the first time and the medic checked his vitals and looked grimly.

And now they are here on their way to the hospital. The EMT who stabilized his leg, is already cleaning the various cuts and bruises and keeping an eye on his patient´s vitals. He doesn´t like them and starts an IV, explaining to Peter that Neal´s blood pressure is too low to his liking.

When they arrive at the ER, Neal is whisked away while the EMT briefs the ER staff on his findings. Peter wants to follow, but is held back by a nurse who hands him a clip board and documents.

‘Please fill these in, so we can work on your agent.’

Peter doesn´t correct her and starts filling in the paperwork, he knows it is a delay tactic, so they can assess Neal without family present. When he is done, he hands the clip board back.

‘Can I see him know?’

‘Yes, they are still assessing agent…’ she looks at the paperwork, ‘… Caffrey, but you are welcome to stay with him as long as you stay out of the way.’

‘I will, thank you.’

‘He is in room 6.’

Peter nods and walks through the double doors in search of room 6. The room doesn’t have a door, so he just slides open the curtain and enters. Inside, ER staff is assessing Neal and he can hear staff call out numbers and instructions given. Neal is sort of waking up, he is moving, resisting their handling.

‘I was told this is your agent?’ the doctor asks.

‘Yeah, his name is Neal, Neal Caffery, he works for me. He was kidnapped.’

‘We are getting a portable x-ray machine, but I am fairly sure his leg was broken at least a week ago and it started healing, but not in a way we want, so we will be performing surgery on him, but not immediately, I don´t like his vitals and we are waiting on the results of the tox screen. When we know more, we will re-evaluate on how to proceed.’

‘Is he awake?’

‘Yes, but I am not sure how lucid he is. We restrained him, because he is unaware that he is hurting himself and us. I don´t think he realizes he is rescued.’

‘No he doesn´t.’

‘Well, you are welcome to stay with him while we wait. Take a chair and come closer. He can hear you and maybe a familiar voice can give him some peace of mind.’

‘Thank you.’

Most of the staff leave the room, except for a nurse who continues cleaning up Neal´s cuts and bruises and bandaging them. Within five minutes two technicians enter the room with a portable x-ray machine and Peter is asked to leave to room. The pain in his leg must have woken Neal, because he cries out and by the noise it is clear he is fighting the restraints.

‘No, Please, don´t. I will be good. I promise.’

‘Sir? Sir, we are going to x-ray your leg. You need to lay still. Please, sir?’

‘Can I come in?’

When he doesn´t get a response, he walks in and takes Neal´s hand.

‘Neal? You are safe. I am here, remember, you are safe. We are in hospital.’

‘I will be good. I promise.’

‘Can you stay real still?’

Neal nods, his breath hitching. And as promised, he stays still. Since it is clear it is not a good idea to ask Peter to leave the room, one of the technicians helps Peter in a lead coat and neck protector. Taking the picture only takes a couple of minutes and the doctor enters to check the x-ray.

‘Just like I expected. The bone is already healing, but if we leave it like it is, he will continue to have trouble with the leg, so we will go into surgery as soon as we got the tox screen back.’

Peter keeps talking to Neal, reassuring him, telling him everything will be alright. He holds Neal’s hand and carts his fingers through his hair when Neal seems to loose reality. It is hard to see that Neal is so confused and disoriented and still thinks he is being kept prisoner. So it is a great relief when the doctor enters once again with what looks like the results of the tox screen.

Good news, although very unpleasant for Neal, the effects of the drugs will have none to very limited interaction with the anesthesia so I really want to get Neal into the OR as soon as possible. We paged out best orthopedic surgeon. We will take Neal to pre-op now, so that we don´t lose too much time.

Peter nods, ‘Can I stay with him?’

‘Sure, you seem to have a calming effect on him, so please, nurse Daisy will get you a gown and explain how to wash your hands before you enter the pre-op room.’

‘Thank you.’

Patient transport comes to take Neal to the pre-op, but the movement seems to trigger Neal once again and his breathing speeds up.

‘Please, don´t. I was good, I didn´t move.’

‘It´s OK Neal, you are safe.’

Neal seems to be lost in his own world. Peter quickly does what the staff tells him to and soon he is sitting next to Neal once again. Neal is being prepped, but now that they know what is in his system, they are able to give him a something to calm down and Neal is humming a bit to himself, oblivious to what is going on around him.

 

* * *

 

The doctor allowed Peter to sit with Neal as soon as he was wheeled into the Recovery unit. He is relieved to see the absence of monitors and machines, so Neal must be doing OK. The nurses settle him in a cubicle, checking vitals and typing everything in the laptop that is standing next to Neal.

‘How is he doing?’

‘Good, the surgery went well and his leg is re-set, so he should make a full recovery. We are just monitoring him a bit closer than a normal patient because of the drugs that were in his system, but we expect that most of them are now leaving it, so that is good.’

‘Thanks.’

Peter studies Neal, he is pale but his face is completely relaxed, so much better than how he looked when they found him. Peter shakes his head, he shouldn´t dwell on the past. Neal is back and they need to focus on catching these guys and helping Neal with his recovery.

Peter wasn´t allowed to take anything with him into the Recovery unit, so all he can do is sit and wait for Neal to come around. Luckily it doesn´t take too long and before he knows it, Neal starts to stir. It is subtle but Peter sees it. Neal is playing possum.

‘You’re safe Neal, we are in hospital. You just had surgery to re-set your leg.’

Neal slowly opens his eyes and stares at Neal. His eyes are still a tat unfocused but they manage to find him. Neal stays completely still and Peter is getting anxious.

‘Neal?’

Neal doesn´t move, just stares and it is so un-Neal, so wrong.

‘It is over Neal, you are safe.’

‘Peter?’

‘Yeah, I’m here.’

Neal slowly nods.

‘I will be good. Please don´t drug me.’

It is said so quiet and with so much defeat, Peter swallows. All he does is stare at Neal.

‘You are safe. I got you out. You are safe.’

Neal nods.

‘m tired.’

‘Go to sleep. I will be here when you wake up.’

 

 


End file.
